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Michelangelo Drawing Is Sold At Auction For Record $7.4 Million

January 29, 1998|By From Tribune News Services.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — A black chalk study by Michelangelo, "Christ and the Woman of Samaria," sold at Sotheby's auction house for more than $7.4 million Wednesday, a record for a drawing by the legendary Italian artist.

The study of two figures is among the largest in scale of any of Michelangelo's drawings, except for his cartoons, and one of the few still in private hands. It was sold to a private telephone bidder who requested anonymity, Sotheby's said.

"We are extremely pleased with the price we managed to achieve," said Scott Schaefer, senior vice president of Old Master paintings and drawings at Sotheby's.

The somewhat subdued bidding started at $4.5 million and ended at $6.8 million with the final price quoted at $7,482,500 once the auction house's premium had been added. The pre-auction estimated price was expected to exceed $6.5 million.

The drawing was consigned to Sotheby's by the Martin Bodmer Foundation in Geneva and was sold to establish an acquisition fund, the auction house said.

Bodmer, a Swiss bibliophile, began collecting books at the age of 15.

Schaefer said after the sale that the 17 1/8-by-13 1/4-inch drawing "reveals more of Michelangelo thinking on a problem of the relationship between the two figures, Christ and the woman of Samaria. It's a late drawing by the artist."